Brake-operating connection



May 21, 1929. I v. BENIDIIX 1,713,687 BRAKE OPERATING CONNECTION. 4 I Filed April 16, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet 2 May 21, 1929. v. BENDIX BRAKE OPERATLNG GONNECTiON FiledA iil 16, 1928 s Sheets-Sheet' INVENTOR Vzrwemifiamdwc v chassis frame, which Patented ay ll, lmfir ljl vmonnr nnnnrrn or er-rr'oas 'rrmnors, nsfsr'enon 'ro nnnnrrr nnsnn, COMPA Y,

or son'rr-r nnn'n, rnnmna', n-oonronarron or .r'tnrnors.

fnnnnn-ornitarms oonnncrron.

' Application filedAprilllfi, 192a swimw ar/ ies,

This invention relates to brakes, and, il-

lustrate'dlas embodied in novelv Operating mechanism for a set of four-wheel brakes for an automobile. It 'isnow generally safety of a car is increased rather than decreased by using the regular four-wheel brake system for emergency purposes as Well asfor service,- instead of providing addi tional emergency brakes, provided the '0p crating connectlons are so arranged that no 'failureshort of a complete wreck'will leav'e the car entirely without brakes." This" is ac- ;complished in the simplest, and, therefore usually the best, manner by providing asingle heavy shaft, rigidlymounted in'the shaft is connected to a all four of the brakes and which is operated alternatively by either the footpedal or} the hand lever (or their equivalents).

i .VVhile such a shaft 'i'sso safe and solid that the breakage of one hasfnot been known, to

: occur in all the manymillions of cars here tofore built, it is myv aim'to eliminate the last remote chance of complete failure'of the braking systemby arrangingjfor sup porting and operating this-shaft in such a manner "that even if it should be broken the car-will still have at leasttwobrakes which are operative Without any sacrifice of efiec tiveness. This I accomplish by providing fixed bearings for the ends of the shaft, in

combination with means which will serveas a third bearing atileas't in case the shaft is broken, and which is arranged between the' two shaft-operating connect ons, that is'ordinarilybetween the connections from the pedal and the hand lever. JThus even' if the shaft isibroke'mone end or the other of it can still be operated to apply the correspond? ing brakes. l f- Various I'ninor but important features of novelty relate to the detail'structurej of this third bearing,

the're'ady ahnement of the three bearings, and toother; desirable details of construction 7 which will be apparent .fromrthje following descriptionof the illustrative embodiments shown in" the accompanying drawings, in which:

-Figures 1 and 2 are diagrammatic perspe'ctives oftwo automobile lng' different forms-of the invention; Figure 3 is a sectionthrou h'the chassis v of Figure l,

' recognized that I the J Figure .5 is

bearing, on the Figure 8 'showing the lower 0 an adjustment permitting chassis embodyahead of'the sha t and looking toward the. rear of the 'carfa nd showing the bc'aringon the Figure 6 is through the me 3 butshowin'g a different embodiment of the inventionyand l 1 Figure 9 is a section on the line 99 of bearing in sideielevation. v

*The chassis shown in all the figures include the usual frame, ordinarily having one or more cross members 10 connecting the opposite'side members--12, and which is supported by the usual springs (not shown) on front-and rear axles (not shown), which in turn are carried by road wheels (not shown) having front brakes 14, and rear part of the l brakes l6. Thebralies may be operated by tension rods or cables 18 connected to four operating arms orlevers' 20 on a single heavy transverse shaft 22. The shaft can be operat'edibyeither of two'operating devices, shown as a service pedal 24t and an emerg, ency hand lever 26. a

v Inthe arrangement of Figure l, the pedal 2% is connected by means suchas a link 28 toan arm 30 between the ends of shaft 22,-

Whilelever 26 is connected by means such as a link 32 to one of the-arms 20 on the left fend of shaft 20. In this arrangement the pedal would ordinarily .be' pivoted on the transmission or clutch housing (not shown) and the lever 26,0n the left side member 12.

The arrangement of Figure 2 is different, in that the'lever26is mounted approximate lyin the;-ce nter'- of the car, being mounted on thetran'sinission or clutch housing ifv desired,-and being connected by means such as a 34 to an arm 36-on shafti22, This same arrangement is shown in Figure 8.

The present invention has to do with the supporting and arrangement of shaft 22 or its equivalent, In each instance it is rigidly mounted in the'frame, preferably by means of we bearings 38 in which-it is journaled adjacent "its ends, and which are 'permanently bolted to the side frame members 12. It

also has in each instance a. third. device adapted to. serve as a bearing at least in case the shaft breaks, and which is arranged between the pedal and, hand lever connections.

In Figures 1 and 37, the third bearing, indicated generally by reference character 40, is of the same typeof construction as the end bearings 38, and preferably is built up of two annular stampings 42 containing an annular series of balls or other anti-friction devices 44 in which the shaft is journ'aled, and which are connected by means such as bolts 46 to a heavy stamped steel bracket 48 permanently secured by bolts'50 or the like to the cross frame member 10. This subjectmatter is not claimed herein,

being covered by my individual application No. 843,317, filed February 28, 1929.

Preferably bolts 46 pass through relatively large openings 52 in bracket-40, so that the three bearings may be alined. This may be done by mounting the shaft and its three bearings 38 and 40, with bolts 46 loose, in place in the chassis, so that the shaft itself automatically adjusts bearing 40, after which bolts 46 are tightened. Felt washers 5 1 may be bracket 48 and a collar 56 on shaft 22, to

hold in the bearing grease or other lubri-. cant introduced through a fitting 58.

I prefer to mount bearing 40 immediately beside arm connected to pedal 24, so that the bearing takes any bending stress on the shaft from the pedal, andpermits a lighter shaft to be used, the one shown being tubular in form and of comparatively light gage steel. The bearing 510, as noted above,'must be between the pedal andhand lever connections, to cooperate with one or the other of the bearings 38 in case the shaft should break.

The arrangement of Figure 2 dilfers from that described above only in that, since hand lever 26 is'in the center of the car, bearing must be on the other side of arm 30, so that it will still be between the pedal and hand lever.

The arrangement of Figures 8 and.9 differs from that of Figure 2 in that the hearing 140 is purely'a safety device, having a relatively large opening 142 for shaft 22, so

that it only engages the shaft in case the shaft breaks. The safety bearing above described is not claimed herein, the same being described and claimed in my co-pending divisional application No. 343,318, filed February 28, 1929.

While several illustrative embodiments have been described in detail, it is not my intention to limit the scope of the invention to those particular embodiments, or otherwise than .by the terms of the appended claims.

confined between,

amass? 1*: claim:

1. A vehicle having, in combination with a frame and a set of brakes, a shaft operating the brakes, two-bearings for the shaft supported by the frame adjacent the opposite ends of the shaft, .two operating devices having connections to the shaft, and a device adapted toserve as a third bearing for the shaft and which is supported by the frame between the two connections to the shaft from the two operating devices.

2. -A vehicle'having,fin combination with a frame and a set of brakes, ashaft operate ing'the brakes,,two bearings for the shaft supported by the frame ad acent the opposite ends of the shaft, two operating devices having connections to the shaft, and a device adapted to serve as a third. bearing for the shaft and which is supported by the frame, between the two connections to the shaft from the two operating devices, said device having a portion in which the shaft ,i's journale'd and which is provided with one of said connections.

the shaft and which is supported by the frame between the two connections to the frame between the two connections to the a shaft from the two operating devices, said device being adjustably mounted with respect to the frame so that it may be alined with the two bearings.

"5. A vehicle having,in combination with I a frame and a set of brakes,-a shaft operating the brakes, two devices serving as bearings for the shaft, and which are supported by the frame adjacent the opposite ends of the shaft, two operating members having connections to the shaft, and a third device adapted to serve as a third bearing for the shaft and which is supported by the frame between the two connections to the shaft from the two operating devices, at least one of said devices being adjustable with respect to the other two.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. 

